US marshals and police arrest 39 sex offenders in targeted Virginia operation

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The US Department of Justice announced Friday that 39 sex offenders were arrested this month by US Marshals Southern District of West Virginia Task Force and West Virginia State Police.

The arrests were made during Operation Operation Blue & Gold Shield, a two-week operation targeting non-compliant sex offenders in Kanawha, Wood, and Wirt counties, and surrounding areas, the DOJ said in an August 18 press release. The operation began on August 7 and ended on August 18, 2023.

During the operation, 150 sex offender compliance checks were conducted by the West Virginia State Police conducted 150 offender compliance checks during the operation, and found that six were non-compliant.

“Multiple sex offenders taken into custody were found to be non-compliant with the sex offender registry,” the DOJ press statement reads.

“In total, 39 felony arrests were made in the operation, to include nine for violations of the sex offender registry, and five for sex related crimes,” the press statement says. “Others with various warrants were also taken into custody for crimes of first-degree murder, attempted murder, second- and third-degree sexual assault, possession of child pornography, soliciting a minor via computer, escape, delivery of controlled substances, and supervised release violations.”

“The number of arrests and violations discovered over the past two weeks reminds us of the importance of regularly coordinating sex offender verification operations with the West Virginia State Police,” Southern District of West Virginia U.S. Marshal Michael Baylous said in the statement.

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